Stretchy mashed potatoes beaten with sulguni, butter and milk until glossy and elastic, nicknamed the Svanetian elarji. The potato cousin of Megrelian elarji, found on Samegrelo-Upper Svaneti lists.
Tashmijabi is a stretchy mashed-potato dish beaten with sulguni, butter and milk until glossy and elastic, nicknamed the Svanetian elarji because it is the potato cousin of Megrelian elarji (which uses cornmeal). It appears on Samegrelo-Upper Svaneti regional lists and is conceptually tied to the western Georgian tradition of beating a starch with local cheese until it forms long, elastic strings. The dish is eaten as a hearty side, especially with meat stews.
Smooth, glossy, wildly stretchy mashed potatoes with strings of melted sulguni running through, rich with butter, faintly tangy from the cheese. Pulled apart with a fork, the cheese strings are the whole pleasure.
The potatoes are boiled dry and starchy (not waxy), drained very well, then beaten hot off the heat while grated sulguni is folded in. The continued beating, while the cheese melts, is what develops the elasticity; stop too early and it stays lumpy. The butter and a little milk keep it smooth. The technique mirrors elarji but with potato, which gives a lighter result than cornmeal.
Variations
A richer version adds more sulguni. Some cooks stir in a spoonful of nadugi.
On the Palate
Where Tashmijabi sits in the Georgian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
6 steps · 25 min
- 110 min
Boil 1kg starchy potatoes (peeled) in salted water until very tender, about 20 minutes; drain thoroughly.
Watch outBoil the potatoes until a chopstick slides through, then drain bone-dry — leftover water and the mash turns slack and won't come together.
- 25 min
Mash the potatoes hot, then return to the pan over very low heat.
- 36 min
Beat in 100g butter and 100ml hot milk, a little at a time, until smooth.
- 412 min
Grate 400g sulguni and fold it in, beating continuously; keep beating 5-7 minutes as the cheese melts and the mass becomes glossy and elastic.
Watch outBeat in the grated sulguni until the cheese melts and the whole mass turns glossy and pulls in strands — stop too soon and it stays lumpy.
- 52 min
Taste and add salt if needed (the cheese is salty).
- 62 min
Serve hot in a mound, pulled apart with forks at the table.
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